The process of brushing one's teeth generally results in the toothbrush coming into contact with water. Frequently, when rinsing the toothpaste from the head of the toothbrush, the toothbrush handle is exposed to water. Often, the user will tightly grasp the toothbrush between her thumb and her forefinger to control the brushing motion. When the toothbrush handle is wet, it is difficult to grip and may slip out of the user's hands. Dental professionals agree that this can result in inadequate and uneven cleaning of the teeth.
There are several toothbrushes available on the market that include handles with grip enhancing features. For example, a toothbrush available from the Colgate-Palmolive Company under the tradename PRECISION has a handle bearing a pair of ridges and having a rubber strip coated on its surface. The rubber strip is placed on the handle to make it easy to grip, however, there is no provision for increased drainage.
Another commercially available toothbrush is distributed by DeMoulas & market Basket of Tewksbury, Mass. under the trade name MARKETBASKET. This toothbrush has small rubber strip segments placed on the outer surface at the extreme ends of the handle. However, the surface area of the handle between the extreme ends does not include the rubber surface. Like the previously described toothbrush, there is no provision for enhanced drainage.
Yet another commercially available toothbrush is described in U.S Pat. No. 5,052,071. This patent discloses a toothbrush having a handle with embossed grip mats. The embossing is in the form of a multitude of dimples arranged on the grip mat.
While the above described commercially available toothbrushes focus on improving the grip, they do not provide any mechanism for increasing drainage. Accordingly, there is a need for a toothbrush that provides rapid and efficient drainage of water from the handle to enhance the user's grip and to facilitate even and thorough teeth cleaning.